Jesus said in John 14:1 “ Let not your heart be troubled.”
We have discovered that Gods answer for troubled nations, troubled churches and troubled believers is found in John 14:6 “ I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by Me.”
It is also Gods answer for troubled sinners--those who do not know Jesus Christ as their Savior.
If you are not a believer in Jesus Christ, you ought to be troubled--troubled about your destiny and about the fact that you are missing so much that God has for you in this life.
You ought to be troubled about your future apart from God.
So, if you do not know Jesus Christ as your Savior, then please, pay close attention to John 14:6.
This verse is illustrated in Luke 15, Jesus told a parable about a father and his two boys--an older brother and a younger. In this parable of the prodigal son, (by the way, the word prodigal means “wasteful”), the younger brother wasted all that he was given in riotous living.
As you read this account, notice the condition of this boy: he was lost (vs.24); he was also ignorant- verse 17 says, “when he came to himself;” and he was dead--”For this my son was dead” (v.24).
These are all characteristics of unsaved people, lost, ignorant, and spiritually dead.
People like to measure themselves by themselves.
Many lost people will argue, “I’m as good as the people at the church! In fact I am probably better!”
But God does not measure one sinner or one sin against another sinner or sin.
God measures us by His own unchangeable standard of holiness.
If, and when you and I can say that we are like Jesus Christ, then God will accept us on our own merit.
So lets stop comparing ourselves with each other, and admit that every unsaved person is like this boy.
First, he was lost.
What then does it mean to be lost?
It means being in a place of extreme danger.
It means being at a place of distance from the God whom we ought to love and serve.
In Luke 15, there are actually three parables: the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son.
The lost sheep was in a place of danger and could not find his way home.
The lost coin was useless. You cant spend a coin that is lost!
And the lost son, was away from the joy and the fellowship that he could have had at home.
If you have never received Jesus Christ, you are lost…..not geographically, but spiritually.
You are in a far country if you are even one step away from God and His will for you.
Second, this young man was ignorant.
Luke 15:17 says, “when he came to himself”.
Up to that point this young man had been beside himself, blinded by sin, blinded by the world, and the flesh.
He thought that he could find joy and satisfaction out in the far country, but everything that he lived on ran out. The circumstances that he had chosen became unbearable.
Anyone who knew him would have said “That boy is really stupid. At home he would have protection and provision, he would have fellowship and love, yet here in this far country, he is starving and alone.
The pigs are better off than he is, because they have someone to take care of them, but no one is caring for this child.”
Third, he was dead.
Not physically dead, otherwise there would be no hope of reconciliation with his father.
He was spiritually dead.
He was away from his fathers life, love, and blessings.
If you don’t know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, then this is your condition as well.
You may be moral, you may be religious, and you may be kind: but if you have never trusted Christ, you are lost……you are away from the Fathers home…….you are ignorant……you are away from the Fathers blessings and truth………and you are dead….you are away from the Fathers life.
What did the prodigal son have to do to change all of this?
He had to make a decision.
He said, “I will arise.”
Salvation involves the whole person, the mind, the emotions, and the will.
With his mind he said, “How many hired servants of my fathers have bread enough and to spare?” (v.17).
With his emotions he said, “I perish with hunger” (v.17).
And with his will he said, “I will arise” (v.18).
Salvation requires all three.
You can know the truth, and you can feel the need for Jesus, but until you say “I will arise and go to my Father!” God cannot save you.
Salvation is wholly of grace, but it is not forced upon anyone.
The lost sheep did not find his way home--the shepherd went out looking for the sheep.
The lost coin didn’t come rolling our from its hiding place, the women looked for it.
Salvation begins with Gods love for the lost sinner.
But in the third parable of Luke 15 the father did not go out to look for the son.
The father waited for the son to say “I will.”
In the three examples we see the two aspects to salvation.
We see Gods part---God seeks the lost sinner. “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10)
This is Gods work of grace.
We are required to respond personally to this grace. “I will arise and go”.
No one fully understands this.
This is one of the mysteries that we don’t fathom yet; but we know that it is true.
Jesus appeals to the will when he says, “Come.”
This boy said, “I will arise and go to my father”
The only other place in the New Testament that speaks of going to the Father is found in John 14:6.
Look at the verse beside Luke 15 and see the parallel.
This boy was lost, and Jesus said “I am the way.” The boy was ignorant and Jesus said “I am the truth.” The boy was dead and Jesus said, “I am the life.”
How do you come to the Father?
Through Jesus Christ!
You may be thinking, “Yes I agree with that….I am lost, I’m wandering, I’m in that far country. I’ve run out of satisfaction and sustenance, and I’m ready to quit.
Do you mean that Jesus Christ is the way to the Father?”
Yes, Jesus Christ is the way, he is the only way.
You may say to yourself, “Yes I may have been ignorant. I thought that I could live in sin and get away with it. I thought I could go out into the world and enjoy life; but I am realizing that true satisfaction is not found in sin. I’ve been stupid !”
Jesus says, “I am the truth.” I will take you to the Father.
If you say, “Yes, I’m dead in sin, I realize this,--I am lost, I am ignorant, and I am dead.”
Jesus answers, “I am the life”, I will take you to the Father.
For Jesus Christ to be the Way , the Truth, and the Life, to take us to the Father, he had to suffer and die on the cross. It is interesting that in the Gospel of John, Jesus used the phrase lifted up three times.
By “lifted up” he doesn’t mean exalted: he doesn’t mean being put high on a pedestal. By “lifted up” he means crucified.
In John 12:32, Jesus said, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth (crucifixion), will draw all peoples to Myself.”
Not everyone without exception, but everyone without distinction.--Jews, Gentiles, rich and poor, wise and unwise.
He had to be lifted up to draw people to God.
He is the way.
He had to die that He might open the true and living way.
Then Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He” (John 8:28).
He was lifted up that he might draw people in the way, and he was lifted up that he might reveal to people the truth. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
He was lifted up so that people might have the way, know the truth, and receive the life.
Are ever troubled by the thought of your sin?
I hope that you are!
I hope you realize how foolish a thing it is to live in sin, If you are troubled by your sin and by the thought of someday facing God, listen to Jesus words in John 14:6. If you want to come to the Father, simply open your heart to Jesus Christ; for he is the only One who can save you and take you to the Father.
Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
He is Gods perfect, and only remedy for troubled nations, troubled churches, troubled hearts, and troubled sinners.
“Let not your heart be troubled.”
